Bending the Rules
by insomniaddict24601
Summary: The relationship between Nyssa and Leo in Nyssa's POV from right after they meet to the fulfillment of the Second Great Prophesy. NEO: Nyssa/Leo
1. Always Dangerous

**Nyssa/Leo: Can't decide whether or not this is incest since they have different mothers, but whatever. Don't give me a bad review only because you have a problem with the pairing. **

* * *

><p>I was walking to the pavilion to join my siblings for dinner, when I decided to wait for Leo. I know he had said he knew where the pavilion was, but I'd just make sure he got there and found the table all right. I turned around, but what I saw made me stop. My new brother, Leo, was standing in the middle of the forgery, completely still. His face was lit up with the eerie, flickering glow of a flame. I looked closer and realized that his hand was on fire. I shook myself out of my shock and ran into the forges as fast as I could, hoping I make it there in time.<p>

"Leo!" I screamed, running into the main room, the room I had seen him in from outside. He was sitting in the middle of the room on the dusty concrete floor. In his hands was a tiny flame; its light flickering across his grease-streaked face. I didn't know what to say.

I had a moment where you realize you've done or said something really awful without meaning to, but you can't take it back, no matter how much you want to. I can't believe I had said anything about the fire powers. How could I have been such an idiot? There was no way for me to have known whether or not he had them, and telling him to his face that he was 'always dangerous' was probably one of the stupidest, most inconsiderate, heartless things I've done. I'm usually a nice person, I swear, I just wasn't thinking!

Leo was silent. Our eyes met and I was washed over with total guilt. This was my fault. I made him feel like this. I made him feel like some sort of monster, just because he was lucky enough to have this amazing gift. He didn't move. Didn't say anything.

After a moment of silence, I took a step into the room and sat down on the floor, about five feet away from him. The setting sun shone through the holes that had been rusted into the tin walls, making tiny, pinprick sized shafts of light. They scattered the room and exposed the dust particles that were drifting through the air.

Leo slowly brought his fingers in, extinguishing the tiny flame. He focused his gaze on his hands, examining the motor oil that was inevitably gathering in the creases of his palm. It happened to anyone who worked in the forges. Eventually we just gave up on washing it off. We worked often enough that we got used to it.

"Nyssa, I'm sorry." He whispered. I looked up and flashed him a grin. Or tried to, at least. Today had been so tiring and nerve-wracking, and to learn about Leo's secret on top of it all, all I could manage was a weak smile that fell almost immediately.

"There's nothing to be sorry about." I reassured him. "If anything, I'm the one who should be sorry. I was such a jerk to you. I had no idea." I confessed, but realized all I was doing was giving him excuses. His eyes softened and he shrugged his shoulders. Just barely, but I noticed it.

"You didn't know. And you're right. Believe me. If anyone knows how dangerous I can be, it's me." He said softly. I barely knew Leo, and I had this vision of him, but it was all based on first impressions. He was an annoying joker, probably pretty accident prone, and a total instigator that had no trouble getting someone mad at him. But that was all just some front he put up. It masked a secret so big that it was killing him inside, and I had made it worse by mentioning the Great Fire of London. And after all that:

"That must be terrifying." was all I managed to say.

"You have no idea." He muttered, shaking his head sadly, and letting a strand of curly brown hair fall into his chocolate eyes. And I knew he was right. I had no idea. There was no way I, or anyone else, could imagine the pain that came with a talent like his.

We sat there, on the concrete, probably getting sawdust from the floor all over our butts, for another few minutes. I wasn't hungry, but Leo was at the end of a long day. I was worried what might happen if I didn't get some food in him. Working in the forges, even for a little while, has been notorious for zapping every ounce of energy out of the campers, fire-wielding or not.

"Leo, do you want to come up for dinner with me or should I just have Chiron save you something for later. If you don't really feel like facing the cabin, that's fine by me." I asked softly, breaking the silence.

"I like you." He said, all of a sudden, and I heard him put back up his overconfident ego, hinting that the previous conversation was not only over, but never happened. Which, considering the circumstances, was a pretty good plan.

"I'm a likeable person, but I don't think it'll work out between us. I am your sister, after all." I smirked and stood up, brushing the sawdust off of my butt and offering him my hand to pull him up. He laughed and shook his head at my joke, grabbed it, and yanked himself up to his knees. I don't know what I was expecting. I mean, he makes fire on his hands, so would they burn me? Will they be more callused than usual? Or just normal? His hands were warmer than most peoples, but not gross. They weren't sweaty or anything. They were more toasty. Like...a...campfire. Huh. That made a lot of sense.

"I'll go. It's fine. I don't want them thinking I'm weird or anything for missing dinner on my first night." He decided, brushing the sawdust off of his butt and pulling himself to his feet.

"Right, because you're so not weird." I joked.

"Was that sarcasm? I was beginning to think you had no sense of humor. Thank god." He laughed, throwing his hands animatedly up in the air, shouting to the sky.

"You mean 'thank the gods'" I corrected, bumping him over with my hip.

"What?" He asked, clearly not used to the CHB lingo yet.

"You'll catch on eventually. Let's go, Valdez." I sighed and shook my head, shoving his shoulder forward, towards the arena.

Our arena wasn't very big. Not that impressive. It was pretty run down. The walls were blackened in areas from explosions (chariot races can get pretty intense). One side was collapsing and the Athena cabin was working on repairing it, so it was covered in scaffolding. But when I led Leo past it and towards the cabins, and beyond that, the dining pavilion, his eyes widened.

"Holy crap. That thing is amazing." he mumbled as his steps slowed in order to admire the 'amazing' arena.

"No it's not. It's probably the building most likely to collapse and kill you. So lets keep moving." I suggested, grabbing him by the elbow and dragging him away from the rickety scaffolding.

**~at dinner~**

"What are we supposed to be doing?" he whispered loudly from behind me.

"We're giving an offering to our godly parent. Just scrape a little food into the fire and thank dad. I usually give him the bad stuff."

"So what you're saying is we just dump whatever we don't want to eat into the fire? We don't have to eat, like, our vegetables or whatever?"

"Awesome, right?" I asked, turning toward him and smiling.

"Sweet." I watched as he cut away the flabby, jiggly portion of the, I think it was beef, and flung it into the fire with a fork, along with some unidentifiable vegetable that looked vaguely like green beans. I laughed when he missed most of the flames and hit the edge of the fire pit, splattering the blackened bricks with his dinner.

"Shut up." he mumbled, waving the fork in my face and heading back to the table.

**And...REVIEW! Please? It would make my day :) I'm sorry if I don't update ASAP. I've got a lot going on and don't know when I'll find time to write very often. But don't let that keep you from ALERTING! Thanks for putting up with my author's note and for reading my story...yup. Okay. NOW REVIEW! What do you think of the pairing?**


	2. To Storm or Fire

**Thank you guys so much for all your reviews! I woke up and I was like HOLY (insert swear word of your choice here)! Three reviews already? I know it's not a lot, but it is to me so HA! Anyways. Here be the next chapter. Tada, said I, flourishing my magical wand, and there, on your screen, appeared words. Nah. I'm hyper. Oh. And I don't own. Rick does. **

* * *

><p>"Come on! I want to hear everyone this round! <em>I SAID A BOOM CHICK A BOOM!<em>" the Apollo camper yelled, not needing a microphone to make himself heard over the drone of the excess guitars and lyres.

"I SAID A BOOM CHICKA BOOM!" echoed the audience, nearly popping my eardrums.

"I SAID A BOOM CHICKA BOOM!"

"I SAID A BOOM CHICKA BOOM!"

"I SAID A BOOM CHICKA ROCK A CHICKA ROCK A CHICKA BOOM!"

"I SAID A BOOM CHICKA ROCK A CHICKA ROCK A CHICKA BOOM!"

"UH HUH!"

"UH HUH!"

"AH YEAH!"

"AH YEAH!"

"γίνεται!" the Apollo camper sang, finishing the song with some sort of crazy set of chords that sounded vaguely like something off an Aerosmith track. The crowd erupted in applause, screams, and laughter, adding to the light-hearted mood of the night. Chiron stepped out of the crowd and into the center of the amphitheater, holding a spear with six marshmallows on it.

"Dude! Is that a centaur? That's so cool!" Leo whispered to me. I flashed him a grin, biting my lip out of habit.

"Yup. He's also the activities director." I watched as his eyes widened. It was cool to see someone experiencing the camp for the first time. I've been here since I was nine, so most of the charm wore off a while back.

"Very nice," Chiron's voice echoed within the walls of the amphitheater as he applauded our sing-a-long. "And a special welcome to our new arrivals." He added, smiling in Jason's direction. "I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached." This resulted in some uncomfortable laughter from the crowd. We all knew he wasn't really joking. "In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first-"

"What about capture the flag?" someone from the Ares cabin interrupted.

"Yes, I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games." He nodded.

"And kill people!"

"However, until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin nine, anything to report on that?" he asked, turning to me.

"We're working on it." I said honestly, speaking for my cabin in Jake's absence.

"How, Nyssa?" someone asked from the other side of the fire.

"Really hard." I mumbled, feeling rather intimidated. Chiron sensed my distress and quieted the upset campers.

"We will have to be patient. In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss." The flames sputtered.

"Percy?" someone asked from the side. All eyes were on Annabeth now. She took a deep breath and stood up.

"I didn't find Percy. He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis-everyone's out looking. We _will _find him." I didn't understand how she could stay so calm when her boyfriend was missing. "Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophesy, isn't it?" Came a voice from the Aphrodite section.

"Drew? What do you mean?" Annabeth asked, tilting her head to one side. Drew rolled her eyes.

"Well, _come on_. Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day. I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophesy has started, right?"

"What's the Great Prophesy?" Leo whispered.

"You'll see. But it's really not good." I whispered, meeting his eyes. I caught a glimpse of the serious Leo I had seen in the forge tonight. But only for a moment. Then he raised his eyebrows and cracked his knuckles, something he had been doing at dinner to annoy me. The crowd's attention turned to Rachel, who was whispering something to Piper.

"Well, you're the Oracle. Has it started or not?" Drew pressed. Rachel stood up slowly. Everything was silent. By the look on her face, I was sure she was about to reassure the camp that everything was under control and we were just running into some minor bumps in the road.

"Yes. The Great Prophesy has begun." Oh crap. And que the panic. Half-bloods all around me went from dead silent to scared shitless in a matter of seconds. People were standing up and trying to get down from the amphitheater. Chiron and Rachel were being bombarded with questions. Rachel's voice cut through the noise, bringing the crowd back under some amount of control. "For those of you who have not heard it, the Great Prophesy was my first prediction, It arrived in August. It goes like this:

_"Seven half-bloods shall answer the call_

_To storm or fire the world must fall-"_

A voice from the other edge of the fire started chanting and everyone turned to see Jason, sitting rigid at the edge of the flames.

_"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus_

_Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."_

I turned the words over in my mind, trying to translate the Latin. I could tell by the expressions of the other campers that they were doing the same. Rachel had turned pale.

"You just...finished the prophesy, _An oath to keep with a final breathe/And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death._ How did you-?"

"I know those lines. I don't know how, but I _know _that prophesy." Jason tried to explain, but he seemed just as confused as the rest of us. Rachel blinked a few times and tightened her hair tie before addressing the group.

"Well, so, yeah, that's the Great Prophesy. We hoped it might not happen for years, but I fear it's starting now. The seven demigods, whoever they are, have not been gathered yet. I get the feeling some are here tonight. Some are not here." she said ominously, glancing around the fire at the faces lit by the flickering flames. I could have sworn she looked at me and Leo.

"I'm here! Oh...were you calling role?"

"Go back to sleep, Clovis." someone shouted and everyone laughed, which was a relief. I needed a break from that tense atmosphere.

"Anyway, we don't know what the Great Prophesy means. We don't know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the _first_ Great Prophesy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the _second_ Great Prophesy will predict something at least that bad," The flames faded to light green. "Or worse." The flames sputtered and our campfire could have fit in a fireplace, it was that small.

"What we _do_ know is that Jason, um, do you remember your last name?" Rachel asked. He shook his head and looked down, hiding a blush. "We'll just call you Jason then. It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest." I waited for him to protest.

"I agree." Okay. He was going to die. Rachel nodded and smiled sadly.

"You must save Hera to prevent some sort of king from rising. It must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now." I watched Jason's face harden as he tried to hide his nerves. I had a sneaking suspicion that this wasn't his first quest.

"That's the council day of the gods," she explained. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they'll find out by then and break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do." I would have laughed at the last part if I hadn't been so freaked out over the first part. The gods fighting was not good. The gods fighting with _each other_ was even worse. Chiron spoke up, silencing the fidgeting campers.

"The winter solstice is also a time of great darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. _Ancient _magic. Older than the gods themselves. It's a day when...things...stir." I felt a shiver run down my spine and resisted the urge to look over my shoulder. Annabeth, glanced around uncomfortably and coughed, bringing the attention back to the center of the amphitheater one more.

"Okay. Thank you Captain Sunshine," she said, nodding at Chiron. He only shrugged and she continued. "Whatever's going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so we're going to need a prophesy." We all turned to Rachel, waiting for her to say something.

"What are we all waiting for?" Leo asked me. I bit my lip again, trying not to laugh.

"Rachel's supposed to tell us the prophesy for the quest. Eventually."

"Well?" a voice from the crowd asked.

"Give me a second. This takes concentration." Rachel snapped at the Apollo camper who had spoken. Moments later, she stumbled, falling, thankfully, into the outstretched arms of a couple of nearby campers. Her eyes opened but refused to focus on anything. Her arms were shaking and her entire body was trembling in a cloud of green smoke.

_"Child of lightning, beware the earth,_

_The giants' revenge the seven shall birth,_

_The forge and dove shall break the cage,_

_And death unleash through Hera's rage."_

* * *

><p><strong>All right...I have no idea how that went, since I wrote this author's note before I wrote the actual chapter. SCORE 1 for procrastination!<strong>

**review...please?**


	3. Never Keep a Nervous Dragon Waiting

**Hey! Here I am again! If you're still on board with this crazy story of mine, then you rock my freaking socks off. I'm trying to upate as soon as possible so that's why most of the writing is crappier than usual.**

**I don't own PJO. Is it just me or is this a total pain in the a- pain in the neck to write before every chapter? **

* * *

><p>I don't know where Leo snuck off to during the campfire, but one minute he was next to me, marveling at the new-and-improved Piper McLean, and the next thing I knew, he was gone.<p>

I'm worried about him.

Volunteering for the quest was dangerous, and he knew it. I saw him hesitate. I know he doesn't really want to do it. I'm worried that his sudden recklessness is partially my fault. Because of me, he knows how dangerous he can be. I don't want him to think that he should be the one to risk his life by following Jason on his quest to find Hera. I don't want Leo to think that if he dies doing things like this, he'll just be saving us the trouble of getting rid of him when the rest of the camp realizes what he can do.

The truth is, I like Leo. I really like him. He reminds me of how the Hephaestus cabin used to be, before Beckendorf and before the dragon. His attitude, at least the one that he lets people see, is a refreshing break from the cabin of pessimists I've been living with since the start of the Titan war. My hope is that it'll rub off on us and maybe even get us out of this stupid curse.

I shifted my feet from under me, wincing as I moved the leg that had fallen asleep from me sitting on it. I was in the back of the main section of cabin nine. Everyone else had gone to sleep, which was probably good. It was nearly three in the morning and none of us had been sleeping well lately. I told them to go to bed early while I stayed up, waiting for Leo to get back.

That was at nine o'clock.

Almost six hours ago.

It was his first night here. Camp was a dangerous place for newcomers, especially at night.

Curfew was enforced by flesh-eating, blood-thirsty, nightmares. Monsters roamed the woods. Hellhounds were known for sneaking past the borders. It was not the most demigod friendly place, especially one who was sufficiently lacking any training whatsoever.

I checked the clock above the door. 3:04. I didn't know how much longer I could stay awake. But I was worried about him.

My eyes traced the pattern of my tank top and I got lost looking at the thread work for Zeus knows how long.

I was jolted awake several hours later by the screams of campers from outside of the cabin and the annoying ray of sun streaming in from the window and shining right in my face. I was still in the clothes I wore to the campfire, and when you wake up to the sound of screams at Camp Half-Blood, brushing your hair is not necessary. All you really need is a weapon and occasionally shoes.

I ran into, literally, Annabeth and Jason on my way out the door.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Dragon." Annabeth said. That one word struck fear into any sane camper's heart. Especially if said camper happened to live in cabin nine.

"Holy crap. Get everyone up. Prepare to attack!" I said, glancing around in a panic. Campers were running out of cabins in pajamas and armor, looking scared as Hades.

"No. It's Leo! No way!" Jason shouted, pointing to someone standing next to the bronze death trap, which was, surprisingly, not trying to kill anyone.

"Stand down!" Jason yelled, shoving his way to the front of the crowd with Annabeth and I in close pursuit. "Leo, what have you done?" he laughed in amazement.

"Found a ride!" he beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!"

"It...has wings," I stuttered, pointing out the obvious.

"Yeah! I found them and reattached them." Leo explained, looking like he was having the time of his life standing next to a dragon that would have normally liked to rip his neck out.

"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?" I asked, tilting my head to the side, trying to remember if Beckendorf had ever drawn any plans for wings. Leo looked uncomfortable and picked at the combination of motor oil and tabasco sauce under his nails.

"In...the woods. Repaired his circuits, too, mostly. So no more problems with him going haywire."

"Mostly?" I asked, but was answered when the dragon tilted his head and out poured a stream of black liquid, maybe oil, hopefully just oil, on top of Leo.

"Just a few kinks to work out," he said, wiping oil from his face and glaring at the dragon.

"But how did you survive...?" I asked, mesmerized by the glint of the sun, still low in the sky, reflecting off millions of bronze scales. "I mean, the fire breath..." Oh crap. That was a dumb question. Gods, Nyssa! Idiot! Of course the fire breath wouldn't have been a problem for him. Duh. But no one else knew, and if they weren't curious already, they sure were now. I sent him an apologetic glance and he waved it off like my slip up was no big deal.

"I'm quick. And lucky. Now, am I on this quest or what?" He asked, turning to Jason. He was next to me, trying to hold back a smile.

"You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, 'Festus' means 'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?" Happy the Dragon twitched and shook his wings, which looked spectacular. Like a wave of golden sunlight. Dang, Leo. This was pretty impressive.

"That's a yes, bro!" Leo laughed, patting the dragon's thick, metallic neck. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. I already picked up some supplies in the...in the, um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous." He added, gesturing to the circle off campers, still eying the dragon warily, grasping spears, swords, and bows tightly, ready for any reason to strike.

"But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just-" Jason started to say, but was interrupted by Annabeth. I had forgotten that she was still behind me.

"Go. Jason, you've only got three days till the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Now, go!" she smiled, but she looked sad, like she wished she could go with them. Annabeth had been on dozens of quests. It was strange for her to be staying behind on one.

Leo and Jason climbed on to Festus's back while Piper, who was still more beautiful than usual, pushed through the crowd. Leo said something to her and she laughed, taking his hand and climbing up the dragon's back.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay. I did it again. I wrote this part before the chapter. How many of you do that? I need to stop. It's just adding to the procrastination. Whoa! I spelled that right on the first try. Sorry. It's late at nightearly in the morning so I'm a tiny bit REALLY hyper. **

**I'd also love it if you'd send me a review! :D**

**Let me know what you think of this chapter because I'm sort of iffy on it. It was a total filler, and while they are necessary, I still hate them.**


	4. Awkward Forms of Worry

"Shit." I winced, setting the paint cans down and examining the tip of my finger against the sun.

Great. Just great. Even when I'm wearing welding gloves, I still get splinters from carrying those stupid boards. I blame the Apollo cabin. If they hadn't made such a big deal over the damage Festus did to the side of their cabin, Chiron wouldn't have assigned us this stupid job. We had to replace the south wall that Festus ate last week. We were almost finished. All that needed to be done now was paint the darn thing.

A ha! Got it. Splinter gone. All right. Back to lugging these stupid paint cans up the hill.

At least it wasn't freezing or anything. There was snow outside of camp, but the borders kept it 70 degrees and sunny at all times. Doing this with numb hands would have made it even worse. It snowed early this year. It's not even Christmas yet. Christmas is next week. That reminds me. I need to pick up presents for mom, Thomas, and Ethan before I get home. Chiron lets most of us go home for the holidays, and I catch the bus home to Detroit every year.

Almost to the top of the hill. Then the Apollo cabin is just a few yards away. Thank the gods. I don't know how much longer I can carry-

"HOLY HAPHAESTUS!" The paint cans went flying out of my hands and I fell a good five feet down the hill.

"Hey, Nys. What's up?" Leo smirked from the IM that had appeared right in front of my face. I had to take a second or two for my heartbeat to slow down. Holy crap, Leo. You are so dead when you come back.

"Leo! You can't just pop up out of no where!" I whined, sitting up on the grass.

"Really? 'Cause it looks to me like I can."

"I hate you." I glared, but couldn't hide my grin.

"Nah. You don't really hate me." Leo smiled, but wow, he sounded exhausted.

"Whatever. Sometimes I question why Hemes didn't claim you first. So what's up?"

"I asked you first."

I shrugged and pulled my legs under me so that I was sitting comfortably. "Nothin' much. How about y-wait." Something behind him caught my eye. A drain? Water? Steam? What on Gaea? "Where are you? Are you in a-"

"Sewer?" he finished for me. "Yeah. Somewhere under Chicago."

"Gross."

"Not really. I've slept in worse places than this." but I could see his nose wrinkle, not completely used to the smell quite yet.

"Okay then. So, how's the quest going so far? I trust you're all still alive and in one piece." I asked, trying to put a positive spin on it.

"Well, let's see. Piper sprained her ankle after falling thousands of feet through the roof of a warehouse. Jason was out for a while. Probably has a concussion. We haven't slept in two days. He and I were both brainwashed and would have killed each other if it weren't for Piper. I almost passed out after single-handedly killing a family of cyclopses. So, yeah, I'd say we're in pretty decent shape. You?" I blinked a couple times, taking in every injury and mishap that had happened over the past 48 hours. I hated the feeling this gave me, hearing what he had gone through. It felt like I was going through all of those things, all at once. My stomach churned. I wasn't nauseous. It felt...twisted. I was...worried? Worried about him? I had been worried about people before. Heck, I'd been worried about him before, too. But this was different. I shook my head, blinking my eyes and trying to shake this new feeling. I managed to stumble through one of my typical replies:

"Oh my gods, Leo. What am I going to do with you?"

He laughed and I felt my stomach flip. Hm. I hope I wasn't getting a cold or something. I didn't want to be sick for Christmas. "Oh. I almost forgot. I had to repair Festus when we crashed in Detroit and I also made tofu taco's for dinner. They were actually pretty good."

"You crashed? Crap. How's he running now?" I asked, not able to keep this awkward form of worry from betraying me through the strain in my voice.

"Pretty smooth," Leo shrugged, running a hand through his curly brown hair. "I just don't know how long that'll last."

"Hopefully until the solstice, at least." Oh my gods. I wish I could be there to comfort him. What? Where is this side of you coming from? Where are all these stupid _feelings _coming from? Gods Nyssa. Get a grip.

"Yeah. But that's if things go my way. And things never seem to go my way." he chuckled. I couldn't help but notice the way he laughed. It was choppy and awkward. Not like most people. It was a real laugh. There are too many people out there who try to fake bubbly, flirty laughter. Mostly Aphrodite kids, but fake laughs are trending at camp. We're probably just trying to cover up how stressed we are about this new prophesy. It was nice to hear someone genuinely laugh every now and then, even if they were miles away.

"Well, you are a demigod. What do you expect? Luck? Unless it's bad luck, you won't be seeing any of that around." I joked, putting on a rather shaky fake smile. Again, Nys. Why are you being so fake. It's Leo. It's not like you have to pretend around him.

"Yeah." Okay. Here's my chance to ask what had been on my mind all day long. Big breath. Here we go, Nys.

"So, speaking of Detroit, where are you going for Christmas this year?" Okay. Smooth. Keep it casual. Wait, why were you so worried? It's not like you were asking him out or anything. Why would I even think that?

"I'll probably just stay at camp." he answered.

"You're not going to go visit family or anything?" I asked scrunching my eyebrows in a suitable expression, trying not to give away my intentions.

Leo shook his head and frowned. "My mom's dead and the rest of my family ditched. I've been running from foster homes since I was eight. I don't know where I'd go, to be honest."

"I'm sorry. I know how that can be," I lied. I've always had my family to support me, but it seemed like the right thing to say. "Uh, do you think you'd like to spend Christmas with me and my family? They live right there in Detroit and I usually take the bus home for the holidays. I'm sure my mom would love to have you."

"I dont' know, Nys. I wouldn't want to just barge in on you guys's Christmas." he said slowly, trying to hide the hopeful expression crossing his face.

"Leo, come on. I'm _inviting _you. You wouldn't be barging in. Plus my mom's always wanted to meet some of my friends from camp."

"Okay. But won't that be awkward since I'm, like, your half-brother. You don't think she'll hate me?"

"My mom could never hate anyone. You're coming. I'll see you when you get back, okay? I have to get these paint cans to the Apollo cabin."

* * *

><p><strong>I did the math, and it turns out that less than 4% of my readers bother to send me a review. If you are part of that 4%, Enafowl, Daughter of Hypnos, Honest, and The Illusive Man, shout out to you guys for just being awesome! Come on! Let's see if we can get that percentage up!<strong>

**Enafowl: .net/u/3119982/Enafowl**

**Daughter of Hypnos: .net/u/2196900/Daughter_of_Hypnos**


	5. Hera's Sense of Humor

**Shout-outs to: **

_**Daughter of Hypnos**_

_**TheIceCubeCancer**_

_**Enafowl**_

**I DON'T OWN PERCY JACKSON! Why on _earth _would I be writing fanfiction if I did? Although that is a fantasy of mine, to publish a popular book and then write fanfiction for that book. Moving on. Here's the next chapter! **

* * *

><p>I pulled the back of my tank top down. I hadn't changed out of the one I'd slept in, but it was probably okay to wear to breakfast. I bent down to put my bunk up. I really needed to make mine automatic, like Leo's. I even knew how, I just didn't have the time.<p>

I jumped back as my bunk swung into the space left in the wall, concealing the tunnel to my bedroom and leaving nothing but a cold, steel wall. Sounds metaphoric, huh?

Maybe it is. I'll let you chew on that thought for a moment. Meditate over it. Okay. Enough deep thoughts. Back to what I was saying. Was I saying anything? No. I don't think I was. Okay then. On with the story, I suppose.

"Okay, guys. We have inspection today so make sure you're not the one who leaves their stuff out and gets us Kitchen Duty for the rest of the week. They will be severely punished." I yelled, clapping my hands to get there attention and break through the early morning fog clouding their minds. It wasn't even eleven yet. No one was fully awake.

I watched as the rest of my cabin scrambled to shove bits of metal and wire into their bunks and close them up, as I had done with mine. The good thing about living in cabin 9: your bunks lock when they go into your room, so your room isn't part of cabin check. Unfortunately for us, we're such slobs that even that is hard for us to remember to do.

"How will we be punished?" Jake asked, perched on his new crutches. I glared at him. He'd been mocking my authority all morning. I was in charge while he was on bed rest. The leaderinglyness, or whatever it's called, leadership I guess, is hard to hand back over to him.

"You shall be tickled to death. Now come on. We're going to be late. Line up, guys!" I yelled, turning to face the rest of the cabin.

* * *

><p>"Jake, can you walk any faster?" I whined, stopping to wait up for him for the hundredth time. Sure, he was able to move around now that he had crutches, but he could barely use them. He waved one of them towards me, trying to hit me in the leg with the end of it, but he started falling to one side and quickly set it back down.<p>

"Do you want to try these things? This is top speed. Live with it." he said, sticking his tongue out as he hobbled past me. This was ridiculous. He needed to see how stupid he was being.

"Gimee those."

"What?"

"That is not top speed. You're just lazy. I'm going to prove you wrong." I decided, setting my hands on my hips and letting the rest of the cabin go in front of us to the dining pavilion.

"What?"

"Give me the crutches."

"Whatever." he shrugged, standing on one foot and handing them over. Although they were way to big for me, I was able to sprint off toward the dining pavilion leaving Jake standing on one foot near the hill.

"Ha! See? _This _is top speed." I called over my shoulder.

"Very funny, Nyssa. Now bring them back! Nyssa! Nyssa, bring them back!" but I ignored his cries.

* * *

><p>"Sorry I'm late, Chiron. I must have misplaced my crutches somewhere." Jake explained, hopping in through the door, using the edge of the tables to get to table nine faster. Everyone but me was confused. I looked down at my plate, trying to hide my laughter. Hm. Maybe Leo was rubbing off on me. I ignored the stares we were getting and started cutting my pancakes.<p>

Breakfast was going smoothly. Everyone had offered a bit of food to there godly parent. Chiron had announced the day's activities schedule. There wasn't any blood shed or tears over the last piece of bacon. It was a generally normal breakfast for Camp Half-Blood.

Until they showed up.

On top of the Aphrodite table.

With one foot in Drew's breakfast.

"We're back." Piper said, casually. Murmurs started near the edges of the pavilion. Someone sneezed in the corner. I looked up at Leo. His face was pale and his teeth were clenched. I watched as Jason turned to whisper something in his ear. Leo shook his had violently and his eyes went wide. He mumbled something that I couldn't hear and then jumped off the table, only making it to one of the sacrificial fires before throwing up in it.

So. Shadow travel? Not Leo's strong point, apparently.

"You okay?" I asked him when he sat down next to me.

"I think I'll live."

I moved my untouched glass of water in front of him. "Here. This might help." Leo didn't hesitate to down the whole glass. Only then did I wonder how long it had been since his last meal or drink. When you're on a quest, you eat when you get the chance. That's it.

"Thanks."

I went back to slicing my pancakes. "So...pretty impressive entrance. I'm I going to get an explanation?" I asked.

"Hera thought it'd be funny, I guess."

"She has a rather odd sense of humor."

"Yeah. You know she was my tia when I was little?"

"Are you serious?" I asked, my mouth full of pancakes.

"Dead serious. She put me down for a nap in the fireplace once. A lot of the things that woman does are odd."

"I'll...keep that in mind." Hera had been watching Leo, not just from Olympus, but in her human form down on earth, since he was a baby? Hera had her eye on him. I wonder why. That could be a really good thing or a really bad thing.

"Okay, so...Christmas?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"What about it?"

"What do you want me do for it?" he asked, like that was obvious.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, should I buy your family presents and stuff or what?"

"No. We'll probably go shopping and get you a present there, but you don't need to get anything."

"Are you sure?" he asked. I turned and gave him a look meaning 'end of conversation' and Leo turned back to the table, but I could see the slight smile that was there.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay! For once, I wrote this <em>after<em> I wrote the chapter. To be honest with you, I hate this chapter. I really do. I know I needed to include the scene where he and Piper and Jason get back so I did. If I stick to my story plan (yes I actually sat down with a notebook last night and planed this out to the ending) then there are only three or four more chapters left. **

**ANYWAYS...  
><strong>

**REVIEW! **


	6. Crucial Moments and Stupid Things

**Shout-outs to:**

_**Enafowl**_

**I. Don't. Own. Percy. Jackson. But how cool would that be? :D**

**WARNING: EMOTIONAL LEO **

* * *

><p>"Oh, yeah. You have Beckendorf's bunk. Forgot about that. You're so lucky." I said, gazing at the steel door to Charlie's room, remembering the good times we had in there. I was one of his best friends, and his death hit me almost as hard as it hit Selena. I had helped Charlie upgrade his room a few years before the war, and let me tell you, if it wasn't for the whole 'ghost' thing, there would be a long list of campers in line for that bunk.<p>

"What do you mean 'lucky'? Isn't it haunted?" Leo asked.

"You go in to your room yet?"

Leo shook his head. "Not yet. Will took me to the forge before I had a chance to look inside. Then I didn't sleep the first night 'cause I was up with Festus."

"Okay, you've got to go look. Beckendorf took me down there all the time. I even helped him install some of the stuff. You'll be in heaven." I explained, unlocking his bunk and swinging it out, revealing the hallway to his room.

"Isn't that kind of weird, you going into his room so often?" Leo asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Not really. We were like best friends. You would have really liked him." I smiled sadly.

"Huh. So you coming or what? Who better to give me the tour?" Leo asked, taking a step into the hallway and looking back at me. I looked down the hall nervously. I hadn't been in there since Charlie died. I wasn't sure how well I'd hold up. Plus it was Leo's room now.

"Can I?" I asked tentatively.

"What do you think?"

"Fine." I laughed and followed him down the hall.

Unlike most hallways in the Hephaestus cabin, the tunnel's dirt walls and tangling roots were hidden with steel plates, giving the tunnel a sleek sort of industrial feel. Our footsteps echoed, a familiar sound that I hadn't heard in over a year. There was a long orange chord leading to a portable work light. Right where I left it. I flicked it on and picked it up by the rubber handle. It was amazing how well the light lit up the whole tunnel, thanks to the reflections on the steel plating. That was my idea, not that I'm bragging or anything.

"This is so cool." Leo marveled, his hushed voice echoing back and forth within the walls of the tunnel. I turned and pressed the combination on the wall, that I still knew by heart, and the bed swung back into place.

"Nowhere to go but forward." I sighed, ignoring the double meaning of my words. I couldn't dwell on Charlie. It was too hard to think about him right now.

"Dude. Wow." Leo gasped when the door to his room creaked open. It was pretty big. Twice as big as the guest room back home. The walls were steel. They looked like the hull of a ship. I'd have to help him get some of the rust off the bolts, though. I think there should be some WD40 in the medicine cabinet...

"So, behind you is the TV, Xbox 360 Pro, PS3, and a TurboGrafx-16 from, like, '86 or '87." I said, pointing to the stack of appliances on the wall. "It doesn't work anymore but knowing you, it will soon."

"Whoa." He was standing under the skylight. We were three stories below the ground, so it was a long way up.

"And you have a window." I said, gesturing to the skylight. "Kind of. We're underground, so you only get light for a few hours around noon. The sun has to be pretty much over the skylight. There's a fridge in the corner. It looks small but it goes back in the wall and it folds out, so it can fit way more that you think. You got AC, heater, surround sound speakers-"

"And you helped him design this?" he interrupted, blinking in shock.

"Yeah. You forget I'm a daughter of Hephaestus. Built the floor myself." I added proudly.

"The floor?" Leo looked down and nearly choked. We were nearly thirty feet below the ground but Leo could have been miles in the air and I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference. It looked to the both of us like he was standing on a blanket of grey clouds. If you looked close enough, they were moving slowly with the virtual wind. "Oh holy Hephaestus." he mumbled, in absolute awe of the giant screen, showing footage of the sky. "How the fudge did I not notice that?" I laughed. This was the typical reaction I got out of the few campers that had actually seen Beckendorf's room.

"Beckendorf had always liked the sky. But it's kind of hard to see when your room's underground. So this showed him what he was missing. It's not fake, though, so when it's overcast, that's all you see. Clouds." I explained, gesturing to the grey, foggy floor.

"So you can go stargazing by looking at the floor?" Leo asked, sounding more and more excited the more he followed the clouds moving under his feet.

"Totally. We used to do it all the time. Just lie on our stomachs on his bed. You can watch the sunrise and the sunset, too. Only problem is you end up rising with the sun. Beckendorf never slept in, so it wasn't a problem. He always got up early to work in the forge. If you want, I can program it to have an on and off switch." I offered, sinking to the floor and folding my legs in. I tried to put on a smile and pushed the memories I had of this room to the corner of my mind. Leo shrugged and sat down next to me. I was painfully aware of how close he was. Definitely invading my personal space. I didn't mind but...

"Nah, that's fine. It sounds kind of cool. A lot less annoying than an alarm clock." His words snapped me back into the situation.

"Yeah. It can get kind of annoying, though. Just let me know and I'll disable it whenever you want." Leo closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the wall, letting an audible sigh out through his nose.

"I think I can figure it out." he mumbled.

"Hey," I whispered, taking his hand in mine. It had the same campfire warmth that I had sensed the first time. "What's wrong?" Leo's shoulders sagged and he turned to face me. His eyes were open now and they were shining with the tears he was holding back. "You know you can tell me anything. You don't need to worry. Come on." I urged, wrapping my arms around his trembling shoulders and letting the tears fall on my shirt.

"I'm just so sick of leaving." Leo whispered, pulling out of my arms and wiping his eyes. "Every place I've ended up, I've had to leave. As soon as I started to feel like I belonged there, something would happen and I'd end up packing up and leaving out my bedroom window. That's just how my whole life's been. If it's good, it'll probably only last a day. And then I get _here_ and it's like, I can't even explain it. I feel like I really belong here and this is where I should be. And you. Nyssa. You're amazing. You're like the best sister I could imagine. And I finally talked to dad, and everyone who's heard about my fire powers thinks they're cool. It just seems too good to be true. And whenever something's too good to be true, it is. It's not true. There's always something and then I have to leave, but I don't want to leave." Leo finished, looking up to meet my gaze, "I don't want to leave because I have nothing to run from and I've run out of places to run to."

It was probably stupid.

I probably shouldn't have done it.

All he needed was for me to tell him it would be okay, and then we could leave for campfire.

But life is never that simple.

We do some pretty damn stupid things sometimes.

So I chose this crucial moment to do a stupid thing. I leaned forward, closing the space between us, and kissed him.

* * *

><p><strong>So. I found all of the dialogue for this chapter pre-written on one of my word docs. How awesome is that? I did it while this story was still in the planningidea stages. I had no idea I was going to publish it, but then I was clearing up my desktop and then I was all like 'Hey, look at this! I don't have to write the next chapter! I can just post this!' So there it is. I think I wrote this in April or something. Hope ya liked it.**

**Let me know by reviewing and you'll get a special shout out! **

**Or a not so special shout out.**

**Okay. So you'll get a shout out. **

**REVIEW!**


	7. States of Mind

**Okay, so my mom was making salsa and she was all 'Shit, we don't have any lime juice' so I was like 'We don't have any limes?' and she said no and then like five minutes later 'Oh wait. We have a lime tree, don't we?' **

**Face palm.**

**Shout outs:**

_Daughter of Hypnos_

_TheIceCubeCancer_

_Enafowl_

* * *

><p>"I don't want to leave because I have nothing to run from and I've run out of places to run to." Leo whispered, locking his eyes with mine.<p>

It wasn't a long kiss. Maybe two or three seconds. Just a simple peck on the lips. But the simplicity faded the longer the awkward silence permeated his steel bedroom. Leo's face took on a blank expression. Completely blank. Nothing he did cued me in to what was going on in his head. Leo was my _brother. _This wasn't even legal. Maybe I could try to convince him it was just a sisterly thing. That I didn't love him like _that. _But I'd be kidding myself. I was in love with Leo Valdez, my half-brother, and I was screwed. Because in the middle of my silent panic, he leaned in to kiss me.

I didn't see his face when he did it. I was facing the opposite wall. Just staring. Not at the wall. I wasn't staring _at _anything in particular. Just staring. So he scared the shit out of me by kissing me. Not just because he was kissing me. But because he was doing _something. _And something wasn't nothing. Nothing is what we had been doing since the first kiss, and to be honest, I needed a bit more nothing in order to sort things out. The something certainly freaked me out.

And to make matters worse, his kiss was entirely different. I didn't even have the dependability of knowing what was going to happen. I hadn't kissed anyone. That was my first kiss, a minute ago, and I'm not even sure that had counted. So this kiss was all him. I didn't even try to kiss him back. I didn't know how. What the Hades was I supposed to do? I wanted to. I really did. And that scared me. I shouldn't want to.

Leo pulled away slowly, taking his hands off my hips (I hadn't noticed they were there) and leaning back against the wall. He was silent. So was I. I mean, what the heck was I supposed to say now?

"Sorry. I really shouldn't have done that." he whispered. He still wasn't facing me. I was fine with that, though. I'm not sure how well I would have reacted to looking him in the eyes.

"We're both at fault so let's just stop the blame here." I assured him. Again, we fell into silence. The room was darker and the floor was that beautiful shade between blue and purple, fogged over in places with the clouds that hadn't burned off yet. The sun had set a few minutes ago. Leo sighed. I waited for him to speak.

"So, are we still on for Christmas or is that just awkward now?" I could sense the disappointment in his tone, but I was adamant about my answer. Leo was family, and I couldn't imagine spending the holidays without him.

"Of course we're still on for Christmas." I replied, confirming the only thing I was sure of at the moment.

"Thanks." he said. I couldn't think of a reply, so I just smiled. But it fell sooner than I had hoped.

"You should probably go...pack...or whatever." he suggested, probably overwhelmed by the awkward we were experiencing. "We're leaving tomorrow, right?" he asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll go do that." I mumbled, standing up and walking over to the hallway.

"Nys?" he asked. I turned and he was right behind me, looking both embarrassed and terrified.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

I smiled. My hands reached out with a mind of their own, drawing him in closer by his shoulders. Then I kissed him. Again. But for real this time.

And it was amazing. And I forgot that he was my brother. I forgot that I was his sister. I forgot that I had to pack. I forgot that we had to be at the campfire in twenty minutes. I forgot that our cabin had to be clean before we left. I forgot everything and entered this fantastic state of mind where nothing mattered at all except the two of us, right then and there. So I closed my eyes and melted into my mind with him.

* * *

><p><strong>My apologies for writing a chapter that was so ridiculously short, but I felt this was a good place to end it.<strong>

**Let's try to get some new faces on the shout-out list. I know there are more readers out there so get your butt into gear and review!**

**Let me know what you think is going to happen, because there's a major plot twist in the final chapter that you'll hate me for. **

**HINT: this story is written in past tense for a reason ;)**


	8. Thomas the Traitor

**Vocabulary word/phrase for the time being: Media Res which is a literary term for beginning in the middle of the action, which is exactly how I began this chapter (which I hope you thoroughly enjoy). This isn't really my thing, and as far as romance goes, I prefer to only write as far as I have personally experienced, so this was rather awkward for me to write. I apologize if it sounds rushed or awkward or choppy or whatever. I didn't want to go back and proof read because I felt icky about writing it. I know I'm a wimp. **

**Shout outs:**

Wrothmonk

Enafowl

TheIceCubeCancer

Daughter of Hypnos

My sister, Anna, who decided to review on my account...urg

* * *

><p>As soon as the door shut behind us, I felt him grab my shoulders and slam me against my bedroom wall, barely giving me time to catch my breath before crashing his lips into mine.<p>

This is the side of Leo very few people got to see, and it was the side I loved the best. When he was with me, and just me, he was confident. Not fake confident, like usual. He didn't joke around to hide who he was. He was honest and open and just so very _Leo, _that I couldn't help but love him. I hated when other people made him hide that side of him.

My heart jolted at his touch, but I ignored my pulse, which was rivaling that of a freight train, and grasped his hips, pulling his body against mine in one rough motion. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and bit his bottom lip, not really caring if I drew blood. I couldn't help but grin when Leo let out a low moan, feeling my teeth nip at the fleshy underside of his bottom lip. He slipped his tongue between my lips and I let out a satisfied sigh through my nose tickling his cheek. Unfortunately, oxygen, or rather, the lack of oxygen is one of the downfalls of kissing. We broke apart, unable to decide between the welcome intake of air, or more of what we had just experienced.

"Do you really think we should be doing this?" he asked gently, resting his forehead on mine. I was sure he could hear my pulse that way. "I mean, it's your house. Under the same freakin roof as your mom. That seems weird." he added, scrunching his eyebrows a tiny bit, so that you only noticed if you were as close as I was.

"Oh, relax. We're not going to go _that _far. I mean, we've only dated for all of two days." I reasoned, jabbing him in the stomach with my pointer finger.

Leo chuckled and met my lips again, but with more force. Okay. If that boy makes me second guess what I just said, he's going to be so dead.

This went on for a few minutes, only growing more intense the longer we were at it. Any second thoughts I had been having about making out with my brother in my bedroom with my entire family down the hall were pushed to the back of my brain. A sit-down talk about incest from my mother and stepfather would not be the best way to spend my Christmas vacation.

So you can imagine how my heart stopped dead in its tracks when my bedroom door swung open, revealing my ten-year-old little brother, Thomas.

"Eww. Were you two kissing?" he complained, scrunching up his features in disgust. He had just come in from the backyard, leaving a trail of melting snow from the back door to my bedroom. His face grew from one of disgust to one of pure evil. My eyes widened when I realized what he was about to do. Leo stepped forward, planning on stopping him.

"Thomas, don't-" Leo warned, but he was too late.

"Mom!" Thomas yelled, smiling innocently.

"No! You little traitor!" I screamed, lunging at him as he dodged away from the door frame and scuttled halfway down the hall, squeaking in his snow boots.

"What is it now!" my mother yelled, walking down the hall, coffee cup in hand, looking thoroughly pissed off. Her dark brown curls were pulled up in a loose pony tail and she was still in her pajamas.

"They were kissing." Thomas said, pointing at Leo and I standing frozen in the middle of my room, the perfect image of a deer-in-the-headlights. Mom took a moment to register the news. She was probably trying to sort out how all of the family relationships tied in and listing punishments in the back of her head.

"What? Nyssa? Is that true?" Her gaze could have burnt a hole in my skin. Although, I guess I'd have to whip out my sword at that point. She'd probably morph into some Chimera or something. Ah well. That was life. I was used to that sort of 'stuff'.

"Mom, I know this looks bad." I said, raising my hands in defense.

"Really bad."

"But I can explain."

"Is this even legal?" she asked, sounding slightly disgusted.

"Yes. It's totally legal." Leo interjected from behind me before I could inform her otherwise. As far as I knew, it wasn't legal, but I stepped down and let Leo talk. This might be our only hope.

"It is?" she asked.

"Gods don't have DNA. They can pass on their physical appearance, or at least some of it, to their kids, but she and I aren't _technically _related."

"Oh. Well, okay. That's fine, I suppose. Just...be safe."

"Okay." I nodded as she backed out of my room.

"And, you know, don't break her heart or anything." she awkwardly told Leo.

"No worries." he assured her.

"And he's sleeping on the couch tonight."

"Fair enough."

* * *

><p><strong>Hint 2: the final chapter will be written in third person<strong>

**Oh, and hey guess what guess what guess what? I'm jumping up and down right now with excitement! :D You know why? I bet you wanna know why. It's because last night, I finished writing the last chapter. And I cried. So I know it must be pretty good. **

**I love it when I've written something good. It's a very nice feeling :)**

**REVIEW!**


	9. End Flashback

**And here it is. Here is the long awaited (sorry, blame the writer's block) final installment of_ Bending the Rules_:**

* * *

><p>Leo can't remember a time in his life when he's had to run this fast.<p>

His sandals are not doing much to protect his heels from the pounding they are getting from the concrete streets of San Francisco.

He's heading to Lombard Street. She should be in that camp. She'd better be in that camp.

But he's in the Maritime.

Five blocks down.

Two blocks over.

Away from the bay.

He ignores the bodies. It's hard to do, but he doesn't have time to think about them right now.

He needs to focus.

He needs to _run. _But he can't run. No one can run that far and that fast.

Especially when you factor in the mobs of injured demigods wandering the streets of the once-gorgeous city.

And factor in their cries for help. Cries that are directed at him. They look to him. And why wouldn't they. He's their leader. They need some form of reassurance. But Leo can't give them that. Not now. He'd be lying, because Leo is the one who needs the reassurance.

Just one reassurance. Just to see her face.

You must be terribly confused, reader. I'll give you a recap. It's 2015. Mid April. The fulfillment of the Great Prophesy is days, maybe hours away. _To storm or fire the world must fall. _There are two armies. But not really. How about I say it this way: there are two armies that the demigods are willing to acknowledge. The third, I'll save for later. The first, is the Greeks. The campers from CHB. Led by none other than Leo Valdez himself. He didn't volunteer for this position. He was nominated by nearly half the camp. Of course, he was the logical choice. Think of it this way: Leo could crack some pretty good jokes to lighten the mood, he had solved the camp's dragon problem, he was the head counselor of Cabin 9, and he could make fire in his hands. Leo Valdez had become the new Percy Jackson. But his future wasn't looking as promising as the son of Poseidon's had.

The second army, the Romans, had the upper hand in the war. Jason was their leader. It was a long story, really. I'm not going to go into detail. He flipped sides when he was reunited with his girlfriend, Reyna. Percy stayed on their side, too, which broke CHB's spirits and dashed any hope of making it through this war in one piece. The war. You haven't heard yet, I suppose. The Greeks, led by Leo (fire), confronted the Romans, led by Jason (storm), and they didn't get along very well. That's putting it nicely. There was a lot of bloodshed. Greeks retreated back to America, but the Romans chased them across the pond, backing them up until they were at the Pacific. With nowhere to go, Leo's army had no choice but to fight.

The battle had began a week ago, and the fighting was on and off, with the Romans pushing the Greeks further and further toward the bay with each easy little victory. CHB had several camps established within the streets of the city. Being their leader, it was Leo's job to cycle through them all, making sure everything was running smoothly. He hasn't seen Nyssa in three days. Not since they were separated in the fight in Lafayette Park. When we caught up with him, he was trying to find her, realizing that the only camp he hadn't checked for her at was the one on Lombard Street, refusing to accept that she might not be there. That she might be in Lafayette Park. Under a tarp. Along with the rest of the Greek casualties. Harley, who is nearly thirteen now, meets him while he's walking down Leavenworth Street.

"Oh, there you are, Leo. Dude, I've been looking for you all over! Where were you?" Harley asks frantically, jogging to keep up with his pace.

"Where's Nyssa?" he demands, fear creeping up in his chest. He doesn't stop. His eyes are glued forward. His face is tense and grim.

"Why?" Harley questions, quickening his pace as Leo transitions into a panicked jog, his eyes flitting from face to face, hoping for some recognition among the crowds.

"Never mind." he mumbles, not allowing defeat to sound in his voice, pushing past Harley and sprinting through the mobs of demigods that are lining the streets.

Bodies are being laid down on the sidewalk. One after another. All dead. Like some sort of sick decoration, bordering the makeshift camp. He scans the faces. The ones that still resemble faces, and not sliced up, burned, bloody messes. Relief washes over him when he doesn't find Nyssa's among them. That's not to say he doesn't recognize some of them. In fact, he recognizes most of them. But he'll worry about that at another time. He has to find Nyssa.

Although he is a famous demigod, known for his ability to summon fire and slay monsters on a daily basis, endurance is not one of his strong points. His pace slows after a few minutes, and by the time he reaches the camp on Lombard Street, he is ready to collapse. He half leans, half falls, against a brick wall. The top of it has been blown off during the battle, but it looks like it had been part of an apartment complex. There are brass numbers nailed into the corner, signaling an address.

He sinks to the ground and closes his eyes, focusing on the beating of his heart. It gradually slows and he's able to look around and observe the camp.

Straight ahead is a white canvas tent that looks to him like the head of operations. A wooden board has been lain out on top of stacks of paint cans, forming a desk that someone has spread a map out on. One of the Athena campers, he doesn't remember her name, is shouting orders while scribbling something desperately on the map. A boy, fully clad in traditional Greek armor, is glancing over her shoulder and nodding.

To his right, two campers are slowly moving down the sidewalk, laying out more bodies. He realizes he is sitting on the sidewalk, and quickly moves away. He can't believe how many casualties they'd had already. And they were just barely a week in. No one warned him how bad war could be. He'd seen some of the paintings and photographs from the last Titan war, but had no idea how horrible it was up close. And all those bodies? Yeah. They stink. To high Hades. It makes it worse when Leo realizes that they were his friends. And he had led them here. They were dying because he had told them to. He had told them to stand up and fight. And they did. The guilt is overwhelming.

The only thing making it worse is her absence. She needs to be here. Be here by his side. Fighting by his side. She's all he has left. She's his world. The reason he's not dead yet. So she couldn't be. Nyssa is not dead yet, he decides, using that final thought to give him the energy he needs to stand up, brush the dirt off his knees, and take off, jogging through the camp, peeking in to every tent he passes by. Nothing. And at that moment, a terrible, hollow sound erupts through the camp. It's Annabeth's horn. She said she'd blow it if she saw anything, to warn the rest of the camp. He hears his heart pounding over the drone of the horn and the panicking demigods.

Coming up over the hill is a small army of teenagers. But it's clear they aren't on either side of the bloodbath. They have feathers and bones braided into their matted hair. They don't wear the typical orange or purple t-shirts. They look like they raided the ogres' camp and stole their clothes. And their faces and arms are smeared with blood.

But it isn't their own.

Okay. Time for another recap. You know that third army? The one I decided not to mention earlier? Here they are. Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the modern-day descendants of the Gothics. And no, I'm not referring to Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome that prefers to wallow in his own misery and bathe in blood and tears. I'm talking about the ones that sacked Rome way back in the day. Ever wonder what happened to the 'fabulous' Roman Empire? Tribes from the north called the Gothics came and whooped their asses. And it looks like they just couldn't get enogh. The Gothic army, if you could call that disorganized mob of flesh-hungry teenagers an army, had been sacking camps, killing so brutally that it was bordering on murder as opposed to war casualty, and weakening both sides of the battlefield.

Leo slips his axe out of his tool belt and runs forward, swept up in the mob of attacking demigods.

"Guys, move! Run!" screams a familiar voice. Despite the noise, despite the cries and the clangs of weapons surrounding him, this sound, this voice, is crystal clear. As is the deafening bomb blast that follows. He slowly makes his way in her direction, fending off the mob of crazed demigods as he pushes forward.

Nyssa is falling back into an alley, favoring her right leg and leaning mostly on her other leg and her sword. Her dark hair is falling all around her face, despite her red bandana. The bottom of her cargo pants has unrolled and she has been walking on it for days, never getting the chance to roll it back up. It is caked in monster dust and soaked up to her knees with a mixture of blood, sewer water, and gasoline, and there are holes near the bottom seam. Her tank top has slipped down halfway past her chest, exposing the top of her bra, which was no longer white, or at least, she thinks it was white when she put it on, but she doesn't care.

Nyssa has never been in more excruciating pain. She has broken her hand in the slab roller, her arm has caught on fire in the forges, she has been dragged behind a chariot led by spooked horses. This is worse than anything she has ever felt. It's like someone was going through her leg with a bone saw at the pace of a sloth. The explosion has send shards of metal, glass, brick, whatever was lying around, flying into her thigh. She risks a glance down and fights back a wave of nausea when she sees her blood soaked cargo pants shredded beyond repair, just the way the sin underneath was. Shaky hands fumble for the bag of ambrosia she keeps in her belt, fighting to stay upright and conscious. Dizziness takes over and she braces herself for impact with the cement floor of the ally.

It never comes.

"Nys? Babe? What happened?" whispers Leo from behind her. His arms are wrapped around her middle, holding her up, the one thing keeping her from slumping to the floor.

He rips the bag of ambrosia from her belt and feeds her square after square until he was fears she'll burst into flames at any moment. She doesn't wake up, but the bleeding slows. Thank Hephaestus.

As exhaustion takes over his senses, Leo realizes, yet is only partially aware of the truth. _To storm or fire. To Storm or Fire_. Storm. Jason. Fire. Himself. _To storm or fire the world must fall_. It must. The world must fall. It said it, clear as the San Francisco Bay, which was uncharacteristically panoramic for such a grim moment. The world would fall, no freaking doubt about it. And it would be either his fault, or Jason's. So why bother, he thinks, sinking back into the brick wall of the alley, the girl he loves in his arms, drifting in and out of hallucinations. Waiting, just waiting, together, for death to come and claim them both.

* * *

><p><strong>El Fin.<strong>

**Review and tell me what you thought of the ending and how you thought it would end instead or whatever really. Yup.**

**Huge thank you to everyone who reviewed in the past and who will in the future since you kept me writing and actually forced me to finish this thing.**

**You guys are all amazing. **

**Here.**

**Have a gold star.**

**Now go eat some pudding.**


End file.
